Wichita eagle., 1887-09-25
A THOROUGHBRED MULE,

"A Ii
aDat mule seems lax he sorter larf to hess'f
cher oncet in erwhile, said Wash, the grixxled
old freedman, Is he prepared himself for
another onslaught upon my patience and
eredulity.
"Fo' fac, I spec be do larf, cause he got
sompen ter larf erbout ats jes' majestic
Wash had captured the word majestic" at
some fortunate moment Of his long life, and
had made it his highest term Of expression.
Whenever he said that something was 'sies'
majestic" he meant a great deal
"Dat mule, he went on, "been BON sight
all he ibin' days. an he pear lax he not gwine
ter eber be no better. Oar he STAN now, an
he jes' nod an wink an sorSer grin ter hese'f,
same lax er ole pusson whar's finkin' erbout
debilment what he done when he been young.
Beats all bout dat mule, boss"
I had just finished reading Alphonse
Daudet's "Lettres de Mon Moulin" and that
inimitable story. ''La Mule du Pape," was
still fresh in my memory. A mule story by
old Wash, the freedman, told under a stable
shed in the low country of Alabama, could
not be expected to compare with the one
written by the cultured Frenchman in the
midst of Provencal ruins and within the
charmed confines @ the very home of romance.
but, to me at least, mule is of itself humor-
Gus; its ears are smile provoking and its eyes
suggest an indefinable joke; therefore, felt
tempted to risk drawing Wash on, notwith-
standing the danger Of getting into some
thing interminable.
'That mule said I, sis about as ugly an
animal as ever set eyes on"
ugly! Dat mule uglyi LAX ter know wha'
yo' been bon an fotch up, boss, eff yo' say dat
mule uglyl done been woken mules fom
ole Kaintuck clean down var ter de Alerbem,
an s'pose l orter hab some 'casion ter
imagine what er mule mount ter, eff is cold
folks. I say at dat mules mighty lakly mule.
TO er mule what been clean fru de wah Jes
look at IN now; he jes er GRIMM ter hese'f
bout dat trick be play on de Yankee sojer
dat time. Hi! tell you, boss, at it was les
majesticn
The subject of this energetic eulogy stood
with his head out Of the rear of his stall, and
with his tail-what there was Of it-quietly
resting in the much gnawed and thoroughly
kicked manger. He was Ii snow white mule,
whose exaggerated ears and cavernous eyes
looked like accent signs, meant to emphasize
his wonderful expression Of logged willful-
ness and subtle contrariness
Turning my gaze from the mule to old
Wash, was struck for the first timo with a
sort OF resemblance between the two; it was
as If each had grown like what be had con-
templated during long season Of mutual adj
miration and implicit trust.
"Dat mule got somepen in he head; got
more gumtion IAN mos any po' wifi man. an
done forgit mon desc yer Alerbam niggahs
ebber knowed in dey libes. Boss, y0' les
orter sot yo' eyes on dat mule wen he git in
be wok OH somebody er noder wha' he don
lax; hits jes majestic!"
His hereditary intellectually has found
congenial lodging In his heels" suggested.
"Now, yo' jes is er shoutin', boss Dem
heels o his'n is jes wat rs talkin' bout. wy,
boss, dat mule done kicked er chaw er ter.
baccer out'n po' white mans mouf widout
er techin' his teef. Fac, boss; seed him do
ft!n
.'Oh, that's only moderately fair kicking
said I; II heard Of North Carolina mule
that kicked negro of his back and kicked
twice more before he reached the ground"
Yah-yah--yah-e-e-e!N No 'countin' TO- any
mule Dat mule, dab, he pe'fo'm er lsttls
projec' onces t jis beat my time, To- de Lo'd
he did He done went an got inter de bum.
ly bees nes' an dey des stung i'm all ter
pieces. Swell i'm up all ober till he look
mighty fat, an he eyes mos gone outsn sight
WE'LL mebbe he didn't git chen wild them
bunny bees. Yo' s'pcse dat mule gwine ter
STAN dat sort er wo'kl No, sab, boss, he jes'
stan dab in he stable an kinder 'sociate wild
hese'f fo' day er two. He sorter wo'ked he
jaws lax er pusson watts got de mumps an is
er finkin' erbout mighty soa' pickle. Den at
las, wen de swell sorter got outen him, wat
yo' fink he do? WY, he ies go straight back
ter dat bumly bees nes' an show 'em or fing
er two. Dat mule er W.T. yo' mought call er
mule o 'mejetly 'sponsible talent, sho's yo'
BON, boss. 'Tan't ergwins ter toke i'm long
ter outgenl dem bunny bees. Wy, sab, he
jes walk up ter dat nes', les lax muffin de mat
ter, an turn 'roun' be heels ter dat nes' an
re'ch back one foot sorter softly like tell be
roust 'em up, den ez Gem bunny bees KEN
outen dat nes' he jes' kick EN-, one at er time,
an hit cher single one OBJ EN- zac'ly in de lef'
eyel Lod, but he did git chen wild dem
bumly bees, fo' er fae'i"
pretty good for scrub mule, said !, "but
I know thoroughbred one that
SWha' yo' talkin' BOUT Yo' dom know 'er
specterble mule wen yo' see IN. Dat mule
got fancy blood in m. tell yo', boss. He no
scrub mule, any mon-rnon-any mon yo's
er scrub gent'man, boss No, sah.H
Just at this point the beast in question
lifted one hind foot and deliberately kicked
away nearly the whole OF what was left Of
its dilapidated manger; then it closed its eyes
and nodded eontentedly.
@Wo-ap, dab! yo' eberlastin' ole bag er
bones yo'! Ell KEN dab 1 bet gwine ter
tes' erbout pound de life outen vol Wat yo'
kick dat troft for
The mule opened one eve and leered de-
look er dab a. i'm now, continued Wash.
1W'at 20 s'pose he negotiatin' bout novt
Seem lax he sorter s'posin' err case in be min
all ter he SET"
awhat did he do to the Confederate sol
dierF / inquired. as gravely as possible.
"'Fede-ate sojer, Twa' ut no 'Federate
soter, 'twar a dog gone mean little Yankee,
dat's who it war, an de way dat mule cotch
up wild i'm seem lax it tes' too majestic. Talk
bout cat mule bein' er scrub mule. Talk
bout dat mule er doin' any harm 10 er Fed
rate sojerl Wy dat mule wus allus proud o
bein' er rebel an er stan,n' up 70 de los
causel Jes' look at i'm row. viii yo', how b
memorizs 70 he SET how be alius wo'k up be
projecsT
The mnle responded 10 this praise with .
bray that seemed TO come out Of the distant
pest, raspins and reminiscent
dat Yankee sojer seem lax er bo'r t,ef,
come er prowiin' 'roun' my own house wid e.
sorter borryin' cast er count'nance, an be
sez. Mr.. Wash'aton,' SCI &c, bows 20 q
fur crittegsr OATS des wat 'ee said, an deE
jes know pine blank at be gwins try 70
teal DAT r,u's rom ne. Lo'd, bot da. -